The invention relates to horticulture and greens maintenance. More specifically, the invention pertains to a system for maintaining proper irrigation for lawns and gardens. The invention also pertains to a water recycling and diverter system for greens maintenance.
As more and more rural areas are developed into urban and suburban neighborhoods, wetlands and barren highlands are converted into lawn surfaces surrounding covered dwellings and into asphalt surfaces surrounding the lawns. The lawns require constant irrigation. Even in the subtropical climates along the sunbelt and along the east coast with its superior humidity, however, proper and sufficient irrigation is not always ensured. One of the reasons is that typical dry cycles of several weeks often exceed the allowable dry cycle of most popular lawn grasses. Another reason is that lawn sprinkler systems are often incorrectly placed to reach all areas of a particular lawn system and the underlying soils are non-uniformly wetted, or the sprinkler systems are not properly operated in terms of adequate wetting and of frequency of operation. Furthermore, widespread water shortages are quite common in the highly populated regions of the Southwest, as well as in the Southeast and Florida, so that even Sprinkler-equipped greens are often dried out to such an extent that the lawn grasses are severely damaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,426 to DeCoster et al. describes a water reclamation system for landscape irrigation in which reusable household runoff water is collected and used for landscape sprinkler application. U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,404 to DeStefano describes a water management system in which roof runoff and the like is recycled for use in a sprinkler system.
A further reason for the non-uniform wetting of soil underlying lawn grasses, even if sufficient quantities of water are supplied, is found in the fact that rain water is often quickly collected in depressions and drained from low-lying areas. The above-described prior art systems do not provide a solution to these problems.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a greens maintenance system, which overcomes the above-mentioned methods of this general type and which ensures that lawn grasses are evenly and sufficiently irrigated with a minimum in water and energy usage.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a greens maintenance system for a lawn system having a given lawn area with lawn grass substantially covering underlying soil, and the soil having a given seepage rate defined by an amount of water allowed to seep into the soil per unit of time. The greens maintenance system comprises the following elements:
a water collection device disposed to collect runoff water during and immediately after precipitation exceeding a seepage rate of the soil and to collect runoff water running off from surfaces adjacent the lawn area;
a storage container communicating with the water collection device and storing the runoff water collected by the water collection device;
an active irrigation system communicating with the storage container, for irrigating the lawn area during periods of reduced precipitation; and
a plurality of elongate dividers strategically placed in the soil underlying the lawn surface for reducing a velocity of the water running across the lawn area.
The active irrigation system mentioned above may simply be an outlet valve which allows the water from the storage container to outflow onto the lawn surface, or it may be a complete integrated sprinkler system. The sprinkler system, therefore, would not xe2x80x9cwastexe2x80x9d expensive city water or run a well pump, but utilize water that would otherwise have been lost.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the storage container is formed with an inlet connected to receive water running off a building adjacent the lawn area. Typically, roof runoff is xe2x80x9clostxe2x80x9d in that the water is pumped away by municipal services or the like. Collecting this extra amount of water allows using the roof runoff and runoff from adjacent non-lawn areas to be utilized in the irrigation of the lawn.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the elongate dividers are disposed to have their top edges aligned with the level of the soil underlying the lawn surface. Alternatively, they may project slightly above the soil underlying the lawn surface but below the lawn surface defined by the upper lawn grass level. The dividers are thus hidden from view and they do not disturb during the trimming of the lawn.
There is further provided, in accordance with the invention, an improvement in a lawn maintenance system of the type having a lawn surface extending substantially continuously and smoothly from a first geodetic level to a second geodetic level. The improvement comprises a plurality of elongate dividers strategically placed in a soil underlying the lawn surface for reducing a velocity of the lawn-irrigating water running from the first geodetic level to the second geodetic level.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the elongate dividers are oriented to extend substantially transverse to a line defined by a direction of the water running from the first geodetic level to the second geodetic level. It is advantageous for the elongate dividers to be placed to define a cascade system cascading from the first geodetic level to the second geodetic level.
In accordance with again another feature of the invention, the elongate dividers are oriented to extend obliquely to a line defined by a direction of the water running from the first geodetic level to the second geodetic level. This feature allows water running across the lawn to be channeled towards areas which require more water or which do not generally receive sufficient irrigation.
With the above and other objects in view there is further provided, in accordance with the invention, a method of improving a lawn irrigation maintenance system of the type having a water source for irrigating a lawn surface extending with a given gradient from a first geodetic level to a second geodetic level. The method comprises integrating elongate dividers in a soil underlying the lawn surface for reducing a velocity of lawn-irrigating water running along the given gradient from the first geodetic level to the second geodetic level and for increasing a remain time of the water on the lawn surface.
As noted above, it is advantageous to strategically place the dividers and to orient them substantially transversely to a direction prescribing the gradient and/or obliquely to the gradient line. As also noted, the elongate dividers are placed to project above the soil underlying the lawn surface and below the lawn surface defined by the upper lawn grass level. This renders the dividers substantially invisible, while they retain their full functionality.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a greens maintenance system, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.